The present invention relates to portable mobile communications devices and systems, and more particularly to a portable mobile communications device, system and method that can display and manipulate multiple real-time data streams on a mobile device.
Portable mobile communications devices such as mobile phones are becoming more sophisticated and include many new features and capabilities. One such feature is the capability to receive mobile broadcast signals, mobile television, or the like. Such services include digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H), digital media broadcast (DMB), integrated services digital broadcast-terrestrial (ISDB-T), mobile broadcast multi-cast service (MBMS), or similar technologies. When integrated into a mobile phone, all of the aforementioned technologies utilize a separate mobile broadcast tuner except for MBMS which can be received using the portable mobile communications device existing mobile radio receiver and transmitter.
Navigating the content of the data streams provided by these technologies is not always visually intuitive. For instance, a user may not be able to see a clip or sample of available data streams prior to making a selection to ‘attach’ to and receive a particular data stream.
Currently, there are no provisions addressing the user's dilemma described above. What is needed is a mechanism that allows the user to simultaneously view multiple instances of real-time data streams on his mobile device prior to making a selection to receive one as a primary viewing option.